Sturgeon rescued at Bay Shipbuilding

Jun. 6, 2014

Employees from Bayshipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay rescued a large, live sturgeon from the graving dock Wednesday. / Photo submitted by Tom Carow

On Wednesday, after docking the tug Mary Page, Bay Shipbuilding Co. crews noticed the usual Sturgeon Bay fish population had entered the small graving dock — small mouth, brown trout, walleye, perch and carp were abundant, and then came the call, “Sturgeon!”

Sure enough, a 4 foot 6 inch lake sturgeon had found its way into the graving dock. Scott Anderson and Nubs Mueller both said in their 40-plus years, they had never seen a sturgeon landlocked. Steve Bowen, Bobby Skippon and Aaron Luedtke entered the dock to wrangle the sturgeon into an awaiting net, where it was hoisted safely up the dock wall and into the bay.

Department of Natural Resources Fish and Game Warden Mike Neal estimated the sturgeon to be 25-28 years old, and he said he was very happy to see how it was rescued. Neal said there are plenty of sturgeon in the bay, but there is no state-sponsored season for catching them so they have to be released if caught.